Mexico weekly ledger., 1887-07-07
4 PATRIOTIC SERMON.
Bothered BY Ed. Manuel Magee In the
Christian Church al Martins
burg, july B. 1851

AktSSAtAA Sh3kSAf w NANN ~
burg, Juiy 3. 1851
Reported especially Tor the Ledger, The Great
Religious Weekly"
observation-disclosures Exaiteth q Natien-a
Let our subject he the strength and
the weakness of our country,
We ask first, then, what constitutes
the true strength of these United
States, the land at the mention Of whose
name our hearts throe with emotions of
patriotic pridee Hear this question an
swered by Solomon, tho statesman of
nearly three thousand years ago, in the
words of our text-"Righteousness Tx
alteth a Nation" So assured was Sol
ONION of the truth of this declaration
that the saving passed into an Ak"
ION, a proposition SO salf-evident that
il needed no rigid demonstration, And
the proverb is as true to-day after the
lapse of twenty.eight hundred years, as
1t was t~hen-nay, ii anything more
firmly established by the accumulated
historical evidences of ages, Look back
through the annals of time, as
nation after nation has arisen,
played its allotted part in the
drama of The worlds history and
then crumbled into decay, and what is
the plain lesson taught us by the histo-
rian? Assuredly this, that every nation
that has adhered to the true principles
CT law, of justice. of equity and of right,
has fulfilled the mission for which God
gave it an existence, and although 1t
may have passed off the stage of action,
it's memory is blessed. And on the
other hand every nation that has failed
to act on these fundamental principles
of righteousness has become a reproaeh
among the nations of the earth; the de-
cree has gone forth against it as against
Belshazzar in the his reyelry-"Thou art
weighed in the balance and found want
ing" and "Ichabod, thy glory has de-
parted" has been written upon it's rec
ord.
Looking at the proverb in the light of
the gospel We see that the righteousness
of Solomon and Christianity are synony-
nous terms: that it is Christian right
e~ousness that exalteth a nation; in 9TH
er words hat Christianity alone can be
the true element of strength in our ma
tional life. There is but one salvation
for men, whether as individuals or IN
the organic capacity of nations, and
that is the salvation which is alone
through him who came to fulfill all
law and all righteousness. The inspir-
ed records declares to us that there is
but one name given whereby man may
may be saved, and that is the name of
of Jesus. True of individuals, ii is no
less true of nations.
Be not deceived as to what consti-
tutes our nations real strength. 1t is
not, as some vainly think, in our states
m%anship; not in our excellent schools;
not in our widely extended territory,
stretching from ocean to ocean; not in
the ~unbounded fertility of our soil; not
in the unfathomed mines of our mineral
wealth; not in our boasted progress in
civilization; in art or in science-our
telegraphs or telephones, our railroads
and ocean steamships; not in our cul-
ture or our boosted fine institutions
Sources of strength are all of these it is
true, but our ehiefand greatest strength
as a nation, lies in whatever there il
among us of the life and spirit of Jesus
Christ. The real strength of Americs
is in a divine Christianity.
Christianity is and should be the rul'
ing element of our national life. This
it can be in the truest sense, without a
union of church and state. History
proves that wherever church and state
have been politically united, each has
failed to accomplish hat which God de
signed as its mission. Clear and de-
cislve is the teaching of u Lord OF
this point, "Render unto Caesar there
fore the things which are Caesars, ano
unto God the things which are Gods
Let there never be in this land a union
of church and state; but without this
Christianity can be made the very bone
and slnew of our country. This whole
land should be pervaded with the light
and truth which streams from the hal
bowed cross of the redeemer of men. Il
is certainly not asking too much tina
this should continue q Christian nation
Its history began as such; the early set
tlers of this country were a Christian
people. Such were the Pilgrim Faith
ers, the Huguenots of France, the emf
grants from Germany, Switzerland ane
the Netherlands. All a God-fearins
people. AS in the past, SO in the fu.
ture, Christian righteousness shoult
be the true strength of our country.
II. But what is our country's weak
ness, her reproach? Hear it told in the
J second part of our text, "Sin is a re.
proach to any people," Sin is weak
ness; sin is disease; sin is death in TIL,
nation as we'll as in the individual
5 man.
1 One very glaring evidence of our nat
, ural weakness is the prevailing tenden
cy toward extreme indiyidualism. Thi:
, is seen in the state, church and family
When fully carried out in the state i
shows itself in the doctrine that an,
! man may be permitted, if he has suf
l fic:ent power, to overthrow the govern
ment whenever it does not suit his pc
culiar views. A striking illustration 0
this was witnessed during The past yea
: year in the uprising of the anarchist
Of Chicago. Out of this tendency
grows another weakness, viz: the dis
: regard of the binding authority of thu
. law upon the individual. Lawlessnes
n strikes at the very root of our nationa
life and must be deplored by every true
Christian citizen.
A lack Of strong faith in God is an
other reproach to many in our land
From this results a lack of faith in GU
3 fellow men. Recall the time Of tn,
, French Revolution, when God was rui
I ed out of the universe by atheism ant
reason was enthroned as the Suprem'
Deity. Every man mistrusted his fei
J low man, and through this want of fdel
ity of man to man the streets of Pari
are said to have flowed with human
, blood.
) NJ unz~.x ofbar fna